30 Kisses: Heiji and Kazuha
by Jaroslav Lewis
Summary: An anthology of thirty stories dedicated to DC Fandom's beloved Osakan couple. Bond of Steel: Heiji and Kazuha just always end up getting chained together in all worst ways possible, because what is red string of fate when you have a strong chain of handcuffs to connect both of you? #13-excessive chain
1. Clouds and Sun Ray

**30 Kisses: Heiji and Kazuha**

 **Title:** Clouds and Sun Ray

 **Author:** Jaroslav Lewis

 **Fandom:** Detective Conan

 **Theme:** #11-gardenia

 **Summary:** It was a day that could've been. She is nothing but a wishful thinking, the most painful 'what if' in their life.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan or any of Gosho Aoyama's characters. I simply kidnap them when I'm bored and make them binge watch K-dramas with me. Don't worry I make popcorn for them too.

* * *

It wouldn't change anything but he did it anyway. It took him a lot of pondering. He didn't want to hurt her by commemorating the day itself. It would only bring up hurtful memories but he figured he couldn't just forget it, even if it did hurt her and even if it did hurt him as well.

It was a day that could have been. It was a day that they patiently and excitedly waited for but never came. It was probably stupid, but he thought it was all the more reason for him to remember that day because it was the least he could do to make up for what he did. _She_ was nothing but a memory short lived, a wishful thinking, their most painful what if.

And so, the first thing he thought of and did that morning was rush to the nearest flower shop to buy gardenias. He picked the white ones because for a very cliché' reason they reminded him of purity and heaven, something he felt that he would easily associate with _her._ He never got to know _her_ long enough to find more things to associate with _her_ , but he felt it. It was his instinct. He was after all, a part of _her_ just as _she_ could have been a part of his.

He watched the florist arrange the flowers into a nice bouquet and bitterly thought that if that day could have gone as planned, the flowers could have been fancier and would be later sitting on a side table next to a hospital bed where the knocked out, Hattori Kazuha would be resting. But instead, it would later be placed in an empty room, still on a side table but next to a crib without a baby.

He could remember the look on his wife's face when she told him about _her_. The image of her bright light green eyes and excited but slightly worried smile was painted in his mind, deep within his memory.

* * *

 _It was a Friday night when she told him. He came home from work after solving a nerve-wracking case, one of which, coincidentally, involved the life of child, a little girl of age three named Aya-chan._

 _It was a mere kidnapping case. He was able to solve it right on time to rescue the young hostage, but it was one of those cases that tested not only his mind as a detective, but also his instinct as a potential parent. Hattori Heiji had been in the crime-solving industry long enough to see the bad and the ugly, the impossible, the unbelievable and the most monstrous kinds of crime man could ever do to their fellow. But one thing he couldn't stand were cases that involved children, especially when their lives are in danger. Other than the fact that the life of an innocent at stake brought more pressure on him as a detective, Heiji hated that criminals could be so cold-hearted to involve young minds in their dirty business._

 _On the way home, he wondered how he might have felt if it were his kid that was in danger. He knew he'd lose his mind if it happened to him. He could remember the helplessness in Aya-chan's father's face when he begged him to save her. It was an image he could never shrug off of his head._

 _His mind was still on the case when he entered his residence. It was only when she showed up to greet him that he snapped out from his thoughts. It was her usual greeting that he always looked forward to, after a day's work._

 _She'd always rush to his arms as soon as she hears him by the door. She'd wrap her arms around his neck and look up at him with a beautiful smile on her face, a smile that would always tell him that she was excited to see him and that she missed him even if it had only been just a few hours that passed that she had not seen him. It was pretty silly since they saw each other every day and they have been together since childhood but he knew, he'd never get tired of her and the familiarity of her that had always felt like home._

" _Tough case? She asked, as if reading his mind and he simply nodded as he took off his shoes, placing them on the rack. He then, took off his coat, hanging it by a coat rack just by where he placed his shoes._

" _Well, then maybe I have somethin' that would cheer ya' up." She said, excitedly dragging him all the way to their kitchen. He loosened his tie and smiled to himself as he let her drag him._

 _He was surprised when he found the dining table all set in a fancy way. There were beautifully folded table napkins for the two of them and lighted scented candles as a centerpiece. She even prepared a nice dinner for that night. He had to admit he was pretty impressed with how she managed to do all the work._ _Kazuha after all, works in the intel division of the Osaka Prefecture Police Department, under her father, Police Chief Criminal Investigator Toyama Ginshiro. Though she didn't get involved much in cases, her work was pretty toxic too. It amazed him how easily she could multitask from being a career woman to being an all-around wife. He also couldn't help but get a little worried at the thought that he might have forgotten about a special occasion. He knew their anniversary wasn't until a few months. It wasn't her birthday. It wasn't his either. Besides, who the hell forgets about their own birthday. Hmmm Kudo of course but he was in no way like him. Well, he was in other ways a lot like him but he certainly wasn't the type to forget his own birthday._

" _What's the occasion?" He asked, slightly hoping that the innocent question wouldn't cause her to be angry._

" _Oh, nothin'. I just figured, I wanted to do a little somethin'." She simply answered. Although, he could easily read that something was up. He noticed how awfully giddy she was, not to mention the slight flush on her cheeks and the big smile on her face._

" _Really?" He asked again, taunting her as he raised an eyebrow. Kazuha giggled adorably as she reached for the bottle of wine and poured an amount to both of their glasses._

" _Sometimes I hate the fact that you're an incredibly smart detective." She said, finally giving up as she saw no reason to delay an important announcement. Heiji couldn't help but grin at her little compliment. She actually called him a smart detective. Yep, something was definitely up._

 _She stood from her seat to approach the refrigerator and take out a box of cake. Heiji immediately noted that she chose his favorite shop after seeing the familiar packaging._

" _I was saving the news for dessert, but you read me easily so I figured, what the hell." She said as she placed the box in front of him. "First close your eyes."_

" _Is it really necessary?" He tried to protest being the stubborn man that he is._

" _Oh, just do it and don't spoil the surprise. I'm trying to be romantic here." She scolded and he finally did as he was told. On cue, she opened the box and lit some candles to put on the cake and once she was done she asked him to open his eyes for the surprise in his life._

 _In front of him was a white-frosted cake with a sparkling candle and a fondant baby cradle on top. Written on it were the words "Congratulations, Daddy Heiji!" in orange and green icing. Heiji was speechless for a moment. He choked a half-sob, half laugh and he turned to her for confirmation._

" _I'm a… I'm gonna be a..." He said still in shock and a bit confused but very much happy. Kazuha smiled at him and waited for him to process the news._

" _Wait so you're…" He added as he looked from her then down to her belly and then back at her smiling face again. She nodded as she showed him a stick. It had two red lines and he knew it could only mean one thing. He said no more and he stood up to hug her. Tears of joy fell from her eyes as she hugged him back and rested her head on his shoulder._

" _I can't believe it. I'm going to be a dad." And he finally said it. He felt stupid for not noticing. For the past few weeks Kazuha had been showing some obvious symptoms. First, her monthly "visitor" failed to "pay a visit" and then there was the morning sickness. Despite having a keen eye for details he never saw it coming, but nevertheless he was glad._

" _I'm gonna be a dad…" He repeated making Kazuha laugh. "And you're going to be a mom… And I love you so much…"_

" _I love you too, Heiji…"_

* * *

 _It had only been 8 weeks of pregnancy but the couple had already decided to decorate the baby's room as early as possible. Being the excited parents that they were Heiji and Kazuha had already bought the essentials. The crib was already delivered and had been sitting unassembled, inside a box in their room. It was the weekend and Heiji impulsively decided that it would be a good time to get started on the decorating. Kazuha didn't have the heart to disagree. Though it seemed a little too early, she was psyched about the idea and went on with his plan. The two had a hard time deciding what color would be good for the room, especially since they still had no idea about what the baby's gender would be. In the end they went with pastel green and orange since it was their favorite colors. The two also decided that colors were after all, just colors and that they wanted to raise their kid in an environment where things weren't sort out and stereotyped based on gender. It had them thinking, why did colors have to be categorized anyway? Who the hell came up with green and blue being a boy's color and pink and orange being a girl's color? What's with that bs?_

 _In just a few hours the room was fully painted and Heiji came out of the baby's room with paint stains all over his clothes. Kazuha on the other hand, was left waiting in their own room until the paint dries and until the paint smell was out. Despite her protests, Heiji managed to keep her out of the paint. He didn't want her to absorb the strong chemicals that could be harmful for her and for the baby. Right after the paint had dried, Heiji decided to assemble the crib. When the paint smell was gone, He allowed Kazuha to see the room and add some finishing touches._

 _Using friendly toxic-free, poster paint, Kazuha painted little details on the wall, an abstract tree right on one of the corners of the room, where the crib would be placed. She also drew a cute squirrel peaking from one of the branches of the tree. She put drew some flowers with intricate details. Heiji was amazed. Kazuha had always been very artistic._

 _When they were done with the room, they took a few moments to stay in it and appreciate their team effort._

" _I bet the baby would like this room a lot." Heiji said, innocently making Kazuha laugh._

" _I doubt that the baby would even be old enough to remember how this room would look like." Kazuha pointed out._

" _But still. It's a nice room. I bet the baby wouldn't have to worry about monsters under the crib or inside the baby closet or elsewhere…"_

* * *

 _Five months and after frequent visits to the doctor, Heiji and Kazuha had found out that they were going to have a baby girl. The two sat on their living room couch sprawled together while looking through Heiji's Ellery Queen books for some odd reason that Kazuha requested him to read one of them to her or to the baby, rather._

" _I thought this stuff bores you." Heiji said as he settled the book to the side and scooted closer to his wife holding her against him as they both tried to fit in one small blanket together._

" _Well, it still does, but I figured it would be good for the baby. I read in one book that reading is a great way to connect with the baby. Also, I want our baby to be able to recognize your voice so I want you to read to her." She explained sheepishly. "Other than that, I kind of hope that she'd get your intelligence, and your great deductive reasoning skills."_

" _Really, now?" Heiji chuckled, smiling smuggling to himself, making Kazuha glare playfully at him as she lightly hit his abdomen with her elbow, causing him to yelp._

" _Ya' know, even if you're such a detective geek, you're really smart and I want our daughter to be as smart as you are." She admitted as she took one of Heiji's books and leaned closer against him so that she could rest her head on his chest._

" _Why'd ya' want her to be as smart as me? You're pretty smart yourself too. Ya' had good grades in Kaiho. Ya' even graduated with honors in college while juggling it with your extra-curricular activities." Heiji opposed._

" _Well, still… I'm not a genius, like you are. Besides, I was only a diligent student. You on the other hand, have an eidetic memory. You could ace any test without having to spend too much time studying." Kazuha reasoned, pouting childishly._

" _Well, being diligent still beats being smart." Heiji chuckled as he gave her a pat on the head. "Say, you think if she'd have my eidetic memory and your good studying habits she'd beat every kid in school?"_

" _Maybe. Let's hope she gets our best features."Kazuha said optimistically as she gazed at her protruding belly._

" _Yeah. Then she'd have your eyes and she'd look just like you…" Heiji sighed, daydreamingly. "And I wouldn't be able to say no to her. I'd spoil her a lot, I bet…"_

* * *

"Excuse me, what would you like to put in the card?" The florist asked as she leaned on the counter with a pen on her hand and a plain yellow gift card on the other. Heiji immediately snapped out of his thoughts to turn his attention to her.

"Oh… Please write down, 'For Hattori Elle,'" He requested, letting her name linger for a while as he watched the florist scribble down an impressive calligraphy writing on the card. He figured the name had such a good ring to it. It felt so warm saying it and it stung his heart that he'd never get to go around saying her name more often.

"Is that all?" The florist asked, tapping the pen as she waited for Heiji to continue his message on the card. Heiji paused for a while before he found the right words.

"Our ray of sunshine..."

He and Kazuha decided to name her Elle, after Heiji's favorite mystery novelist, Ellery Queen. Kazuha liked the Western ring to it and that the name was less traditional making it somehow unique in Japan. She also looked up the meaning of the name and found out that it meant "sun ray" in Greek origin.

Just like the sun that she is, the sun that she was supposed to be, she brightened their day with her mere existence, with the mere thought that she'd someday be a little ray of sunshine in their life. But the weather was unpredictable. They never anticipated the storm that would come and take her away, filling their life with nothing but dark clouds.

* * *

 _She couldn't understand why but she felt so off since that morning. She wondered if it was just her unstable hormones, being pregnant and all. She had a heavy feeling in her chest. She couldn't explain it but she felt awfully restless._

 _There was no logical explanation but Kazuha's instincts had become very accurate as the years passed, especially when it came to Heiji's welfare. It was also one of the reasons why her grip on superstitious beliefs was so strong. Kazuha relied on Omamori so much that she made a matching pair for her and Heiji. And though many have thought of the gesture as silly and cheesy (as Heiji did in the past), for some great "coincidence" the charm seemed to have protected them from harm several times. Kazuha believed, however that those instances weren't just mere coincidences. The Omamori worked for real. It was proven and tested._

 _That afternoon, Heiji showed up in her office, as promised that they planned to have lunch together. Their plans however were cancelled, as soon as Heiji received a phone call from his father, Police Superintendent Hattori Heizo, asking him to work on a murder case._

" _Gomene, Kazuha. I can't have lunch with you today. Something came up and Oyaji wants me to look into a case." Heiji explained with an apologetic look on his face._

" _It's okay… I can just have lunch with Otousan, today or Otaki-han." Kazuha said assuringly, though deep down she felt worried._

" _Well, I'll see you later, okay?" Heiji bid, leaning closer to her to give her a good bye kiss. His lips softly brushed against her forehead. When he pulled away, he lingered for a moment. He gently tucked her bangs behind her ear and gave her a smile before he proceeded to walk away._

" _Umm, Heiji?" She called albeit hesitating for a few seconds. She searched his emerald orbs with her peridots, worriedly as soon as he stopped on his tracks to turn his attention towards her._

" _Ne?" He asked nonchalantly._

" _Did you bring your Omamori with you?" She asked and he paused for a moment to think._

" _Yeah, I remembered I…" He brought his hand to his neck and collar bone area, where he usually wore it as a necklace, only to find it missing. He searched his pocket to and brought out his phone to see if it was hanging as its accessory, but it wasn't there either. He recalled his actions earlier that morning and it struck him that he had accidentally left it inside Elle's Room, when he went there before he and Kazuha took off to work._

" _Oh crap." He cursed. Kazuha's heart beat rapidly against her chest, like she was about to have a panic attack. "Ahhh. I forgot it in Elle's room. I went to look for her sonogram picture so I could place it inside, the Omamori pouch, so it'd have yours and hers in it."_

 _Kazuha felt like strangling him for a moment, only to be awfully touched by his intentions. All of a sudden her frustrations subsided, but the uneasy feeling was still there. She sighed, but decided not to make a big deal about it. Stress was bad for the baby and other than that, she knew that Heiji could be a little absent-minded at times because of work._

 _Being a detective had a lot of dangers. She witnessed it several times. Trouble and death followed Heiji around like a lost puppy and that was the main reason why she wanted him to have his Omamori AT ALL TIMES._

 _It stressed her out a lot that of all the times he'd have to forget it, it was on that day when she was feeling unexplainably uneasy. Instinctively, she reached for hers and took it off. She tiptoed to reach up to her husband's tall stature and slid the Omamori necklace to his head down to his neck, where it was supposed to be._

" _Hey… Ya don't hafta, Kazuha. I'll be fine. Don't you need this more? After all, I'm leaving you here all alone with the baby and..."_

" _It's no problem. I'll just be here anyway. Besides, Otousan and Otaki-han's going to be here. We'll be fine, Heiji." She assured him before she tiptoed again to plant a chaste kiss on his lips. "We'll see you later, okay?"_

* * *

 _Heiji finished the case just in time for dinner and as soon as he and his colleagues have wrapped up, he went straight to pick up Kazuha. His wife was relieved that he was able to come back without being harmed. She figured she might have been just a little paranoid that day and that there was nothing to worry about at all._

 _She decided to shrug the thought. There was nothing to be worried about. They were going to be fine. Or so she thought._

 _It turns out, it was too early for her to let her guard down. Her premonition was right after all…_

 _The couple decided to have dinner at their favorite restaurant that served the best Okonomiyaki in the whole of Japan. On the way there, Heiji noticed a black car trailing them. It had been following them around for some time now. He felt tensed, but he didn't want Kazuha to find out. He didn't want her to panic, especially when she's carrying their baby. His grip on the car's steering wheel tightened, thinking that no matter what happens, he was going to protect his wife and their unborn daughter. He decided to speed up a little, hoping to lose the unknown "stalker" but his car went just as fast as he did._

 _It didn't take too long for Kazuha to notice that something seemed to be bothering Heiji. She glanced at him for a moment and noticed that his knuckles have gone white from gripping the steering wheel to hard. He also looked pretty tense. Panic started to fill her heart._

" _Heiji, don't you think we're going a little too fast?" She asked worriedly. He didn't answer as his attention was towards the rare view mirror and the reflection of the mysterious follower by their tail. Heiji grunted as he went faster to lose the other car, but to no avail. He even noticed that it went past by them and slowed down so that it was just beside their car, right by Kazuha's side to be exact. He looked at the car from his peripheral vision. Its windows were heavily tinted._

" _Heiji, what's going on?" Kazuha yelped as he sped on. The other car picked up its pace and went closer to theirs, lightly hitting Kazuha's side. "Heiji!"_

 _Heiji immediately took his gun from their car's glove compartment, one which he is allowed to carry for safety and emergencies. Kazuha shook in fear as she watched Heiji grip the steering wheel with his left and the gun with his right. The driver from the other car had had lowered his window. He glanced at the reckless driver to see his face, but he had a cap, a mask and shades on to conceal his identity. The only thing that he could make out was that the dangerous follower is most likely a man who might have been someone he had angered from his cases. He also saw that the man had already pointed a gun towards them. Whether it was him or Kazuha that he was pointing at, he wasn't sure. Heiji felt his left hand freeze in panic._

 _For someone who wasn't in his situation, it would be easier to say that to shoot first was safer, but Heiji wasn't confident in his aim, other than that, it's more difficult to shoot someone in a moving vehicle especially when he's also operating a moving vehicle of his own. He could save himself and his wife from being shot, but they could die from a car accident. Also, if he fired and then missed, the guy would fire back and worse he could hit Kazuha and the baby._

 _He lost it, however when the guy started firing at them. He missed. Heiji started firing back, but kept missing as well. A beeping sound filled his ears as he tried to focused on the road and on the crazy guy who was trying to harm him and his family. He could hear Kazuha's faint screams and crying._

 _The shooting stopped when the guy hit Heiji's wheel, causing it to burst resulting to Heiji losing control of his own vehicle. Heiji's car, sped up and before he knew it, he was slamming to a post. The criminal sped away as soon as he met his victory._

 _Minutes later, Heiji was awaken by faint sound of paramedics and police cars. He opened his eyes groggily, recalling the events that had transpired. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he spotted a broken dashboard. The faint smell of gasoline filled his nostrils. He felt slightly numb due to his injuries. His head felt damp as he touched it with his hand. He looked and noticed that his blood gushed from his forehead, an injury he got from the impact which caused him to slam his head on the dashboard. He immediately snapped as soon as he realized that Kazuha was with him, sitting on his passenger's seat. He looked at her and noticed that she wasn't looking so good either and probably did worse. She was still unconscious. She had wounds on her face. There was a lot of blood, mostly in between her legs._

 _He started to forget that he had injuries of his own. He started to fear the worst thing possible. His heart throbbed rapidly in fear as he slowly took her seatbelt off. He lightly tapped her shoulder, as he tried to wake her, but to no avail._

" _Kazuha! Oi. Kazuha. Wake up!" He said, almost shouting in panic._

 _It wasn't long before the police and the paramedics got them out of their crashed car. Paramedics tried to tend to Heiji's wounds, but he fought back, saying that he had to see Kazuha first. He watched as they put her in a stretcher, inside an ambulance._

 _He found it hard to process what was happening in his surroundings. The sound of the sirens was deafening. There were police everywhere and some reporters._

" _I need to see my wife!" He shouted angrily at the paramedic who was trying to calm him down._

" _We are doing the best we can, sir but you have to calm down and get your wounds treated." One of the doctors said._

" _You don't understand. My wife is badly injured and she… She's pregnant. Our baby-" He shrugged out of one of the nurses' grip and tried to get away. The paramedics held him down and within seconds, he was out._

" _Kazuha… Elle… Kami-san…Onegai…" Were the last words he spoke before he drifted to slumber._

* * *

As soon as he got home, he set the flowers in one of Kazuha's favorite vases. He poured a little water in it to keep it fresh and stuck the yellow card on the vase with an adhesive tape. He took a few moments to stare at the gardenias for a while. He briefly glanced at his watch and noticed that it was already in the afternoon. He silently thought to himself that at that hour he could have been watching a tired Kazuha in her sleep. Minutes later he could have been sitting next to her groggy, but already awake self as the nurse puts a tiny bundle of joy in her arms. He could've been gazing at their daughter right now and he could have been holding her after Kazuha has had her turn. He could've but he couldn't.

It was supposed to be Baby Elle's birthday. Except, there was no Baby Elle at least, no more. She is now, nothing more but a wishful thinking, the most painful 'what if' in Heiji and Kazuha's life. He lost her and in some sort of way, he kind of lost Kazuha as well.

Long were the nights he spent blaming himself as he lays down on their bed, with Kazuha's side empty. Long were the nights that he'd spray her perfume on her pillows so that he'd get through the day of missing her so badly. She wouldn't sleep beside him anymore. She preferred being left alone, spending most of her days and nights locked up in Elle's room. She wouldn't even talk to him. He figured, he deserved it. It was his fault that Elle was gone. He couldn't protect her. He couldn't protect Kazuha either.

He snapped from his reverie as soon as he heard her footsteps. He figured, Kazuha had finally decided to go out of Elle's room for a while, but he knew she wouldn't be staying too long. She'd only go out when she'd feel a little hungry or thirsty. Right after she's done, she'd go back and lock herself up again.

She showed up clad in her loose pajamas. Her hair was tied up in a tangled messy bun. Her eyes were blank and puffy and dark circles appeared under them. She had been a totally different person since the incident, very far from the bright and cheerful Kazuha that he once knew.

"Hey…" He said, clearing his throat as he greeted her awkwardly. It felt crazy how suddenly, he felt like he was talking to some stranger, when apparently, she's someone he had known for so many years. After the incident, Heiji could never figure out how to approach her. Other than the fact that guilt held him back, Kazuha had been mentally and emotionally unstable for four months now, since the incident. She felt so fragile and he was afraid that any careless move he'd do would cause her to break.

"Do you want anything? I could fix something up for you." He offered when he got no response from her. He watched as she moved past him to get a glass of water. She wouldn't even look at him. She had been avoiding his existence ever since.

After she drank the whole glass of water in one gulp, she turned to go back to Elle's room, but stopped on her tracks when she noticed the vase of Gardenias on the table, in front of her husband. She paused and stared for a while, but said nothing. Heiji watched her actions and felt a little tense. He froze when she looked at him blankly, as if asking for an explanation but was too numb to care that much.

"I hope you don't mind. It's just that I remembered what today's supposed to be." He spoke softly and somewhat carefully as he tried to avoid her cold gaze.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that she's gone. It's not going to bring her back…" She told him with so much bitterness in her voice as she turned her back to him. Heiji watched her walk away. He stared at the vase of gardenias sitting on the table as he listened to her slam the door. He closed his eyes and sighed.

* * *

 _Heiji woke up to the sterile white of a hospital room. Albeit his headache and recurring numbness on some parts of his body, his mind immediately drifted to his wife as her traumatizing, badly injured image flashed on his mind. His eyes searched the room and found his parents sitting by his bed. His worried mother came to hug him, protectively and his father stood by next to her._

" _You're finally awake! Do you want anything? How are you feeling? You had us worried, dear." Shizuka spoke as she gently brushed her son's messy hair._

" _Toyama and I are working on the case. We've also had some guys helping out. Your detective friend from Tokyo, Kudo came by too, when you were unconscious. He said he'd look into the case too." Heizo informed calmly, but Heiji didn't seem to be processing what his father had just said. His eyes were blank and he was silent for a while._

" _Where's Kazuha?" He asked, feeling tensed. He silently prayed that what he feared the most didn't turn out to be. Shizuka and Heizo were both hesitant to respond for a while. Shizuha gently squeezed her son's hand and gave him a sad smile._

" _Heiji, Kazuha-chan's okay. She's still unconscious and resting well in the room right next to you. The doctor said she'll be waking up by tomorrow or maybe in a few hours." She responded. Heiji let out a sigh of relief. He could never forgive himself if something had happened to her. He however knew that it was still too early to be jumping for joy. There was another life he had to worry about. "But Heiji…"_

 _And there was the but..._

 _That "but". The indicator that there was apparently bad news after the good news._

" _Heiji… We lost the baby… Kazuha-chan had a miscarriage… I'm so sorry, dear…" Shizuka felt so hurt to break the news to him. She knew how it felt. She was after all, a parent. Heiji was in a state of shock as his mother's words echoed in his head. It took a few seconds to register to him and suddenly he felt his fists roll into a tight ball. And then the tears fell._

 _And though, Heizo wasn't the type of father to be expressive, he knew at that moment his son needed him. He gave his son a light pat on the back._

" _I'm sorry, son." He manage to say, though he couldn't find the right words and he knew no words could make Heiji ever feel better. He had lost his daughter and no apology, no sense of empathy, was ever going to bring that back._

 _A surge of emotions went through Heiji. He was hurt, he was mourning for his loss and most of all he was angry, with the man who hurt his family but mostly, with himself. He started to punch the bed and the rails by his side, his knuckles went numb and then he started beating himself, crying and screaming. Heizo tried to hold him down and Shizuka wrapped his arms around her son._

" _Heiji, please calm down…" Shizuka begged as she hugged him tight. Heizo held his son's bleeding fists. Soon Heiji's crying slowly subsided and he started to calm down._

" _I need to see her." He said. His tone was cold and his eyes were blank and lifeless. Shizuka hesitated, but she knew Heiji needed to see his wife. She loosened her hold around him and nodded. She and her husband held their son up and together they went to Kazuha's room and found her sleeping in her bed. The Toyamas were pretty restless too. Shizuka went to hug Kazuha's mother, her longtime friend. As mothers, they both knew the pain. Kazuha carried Elle for 5 months, looking ahead of a great future with her child, and now it was taken away from her…_

" _She still hasn't woken up…" Ginshiro said as he stroked his daughter's hair. His expression was sad as he stared at Kazuha's wounds and bruises. Even if Kazuha had grown up and had started a new life with his pal's boy, in the end she was still his little girl. He felt hurt seeing her in such state._

 _Heiji slowly walked towards his father-in-law who acknowledged his presence. Ginshiro gave the young detective a light pat on the back before he left her with his wife. He also took his wife and Heiji's parents with him to give the couple some privacy. Heiji sat on a chair by Kazuha's bed. He slowly and hesitantly reached to stroke her hair, carefully touching her as she seemed so fragile. He then reached to hold her soft hand in his and then brought it to his lips, kissing it gingerly. And then he choked on a sob. He struggled with his breathing as he tried to stop himself from crying again, only to be betrayed by his rebellious tears._

" _I'm sorry, Kazuha… I'm sorry…" He whispered over and over again, until he got tired and fell asleep._

* * *

 _He stayed by her side until she woke up. He waited painstakingly and patiently until she opened her eyes and found him sitting by her bed as he held her hand. Her eyes slowly adjusted to her surroundings. Her head ached and she noticed that she had an iv stuck to her arm. Her body was sore and she had bandages and gauze all over her._

" _Heiji…" She said as she tried to sit up straight. Heiji stood to help adjust her pillows so that she could be comfortable._

" _Hey…" He greeted her. "You finally woke up…"_

 _She didn't respond as she took a few moments to stare at his face. He had bruises too, but she was relieved that he was okay and then she felt a heavy feeling in her chest. As if she had lost something…_

 _And then she remembered…_

" _Heiji, how's Elle-chan?" She asked as she looked into his eyes. Heiji paused for a moment as he sat down. He didn't know where to start. It broke his heart that Kazuha was badly injured and the first thing that popped into her mind was Elle's safety. She had completely forgotten about herself because she cared about the baby's life, more than her own. Heiji knew right then and there that Kazuha was so much ready to be a mother and it broke his heart that that chance was taken from her._

" _Heiji… Did something happen to our daughter?" She asked again, her tone briefly rose as soon as she received no response from him._

" _Kazuha… Kazuha, listen to me, okay?" He said as he cupped her face in his hands. He stroked her hair lightly and held both of her hands in his. He squeezed them tightly as he looked into her eyes. Tears were already forming at the corners. She knew his tone. It wasn't gonna be good. She felt it, but she still hoped._

" _Kazuha… Elle is… Elle is gone. We lost her… I'm sorry." He said, remorsefully and she broke down in tears. He sat on her bed, by her side and held her tight. She cried and screamed and thrashed. She hit his chest and tried to push him away. He hushed at her as he held her in his arms and tried to stop her from hurting herself._

" _No… She's not gone." She kept saying, still in her denial state. "She's not gone. You're lying!"_

 _Tears flowed endlessly from her eyes, soaking Heiji's T-shirt. Eventually she got tired from getting away from Heiji. His embrace loosened as her loud cries turned into quiet sniffles._

" _I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" He said repeatedly, though he knew his apology never mattered. His hugs wouldn't make the pain go away. There was nothing he could do to reverse the time. He could never bring Elle back. At that moment, Heiji wished he was the one who had died._

 _And for months now, he had been slowly dying, but probably not as much as Kazuha had been._

* * *

 _Heiji juggled work, taking care of Kazuha and solving the case regarding the assault done to both of them. It was hard for him, but he figured it could be his own way of coping and of healing. He needed to keep himself busy and distracted so that he'd forget about his loneliness. He vented all his anger and frustrations to capturing their assailant. He swore to make him pay._

 _The family made sure that Kazuha had all the help she could get. They took her to a psychiatrist regularly and signed her up for a support group. But depression, was crippling. Kazuha barely showed any improvement and got even worse with each day that passed._

 _It had come to the point of self-harm. Heiji found her inside their bathroom, lying almost lifelessly on the floor next to a pool of blood. Next to the pool of blood was a bloody box cutter._ _She had bloody lines on her left wrist. Kazuha almost died due to blood loss. If Heiji had not come on time, he would have lost her._

 _It was hard for him, but he knew that they had to solve the problem together. Kazuha hadn't spoken to him since the miscarriage. Heiji, in some sort of way, avoided her as well to escape conflict. Though he always checked up on her, he always felt too guilty to be around her that much. He also decided to give her some space. But after seeing her remnants of self-harm, he knew he couldn't run away from their problems. He knew she needed him and it was time that he focused on her more._

" _Why?" He asked as he sat in front of her and stared at her carefully bandaged wrist. It was probably a stupid question, but he knew they had to talk about it. Kazuha stared into blank space and did not give him any response._

" _Let's talk about it, Kazuha. Tell me everything. You want to punch me? Scream at me? Go ahead. Just… Just don't hurt yourself. Do you understand? Don't do this again." He said, controlling his tone, trying to be gentle with her as possible. He touched her shoulder and she shrugged his hand off of her angrily._

" _You wouldn't understand." She mumbled under her breath. She avoided his gaze as she spoke. She clenched her fist tight and soon tears fell from her eyes again._

 _Heiji tried to wipe her tears away, but she swatted his hand off._

" _You didn't carry her for five months! You never loved her as much as I did!" She shouted, accusingly at him. She looked at him with so much hate, an image that had been tattooed in Heiji's mind permanently._

 _Heiji felt a surge of emotions rush through him. His chest hurt as her words rang in his ears. He didn't show it, but he was mourning as well. And it hurt him that Kazuha had accused him of not loving Elle when in fact, she meant the whole world to him._

" _Now, you're just being unfair, Kazuha. You know that's not true." He argued, slightly losing control of the situation as his emotions messed with his mind. He let out an exhausted sigh as he tried to regain composure. He didn't want it to end badly with her especially when she was in such state._

" _Look… I'm working on the case, okay? I'm trying to figure out who did it, so-"_

" _And there you go again…" She chuckled bitterly and sarcastically as she cut him off. "It's always the cases, right Heiji? Because being a detective is so important to you, ne, Heiji? If you hadn't been a detective, this wouldn't have happened. If you loved Elle more than your job, she would still be with us. The man wouldn't have targeted you and me. The accident wouldn't have happened."_

 _Heiji's throat dried upon her response. She looked him at him straight in the eye. Her expression was cold._

" _It's your fault she's gone. You killed her."_

 _Her words stabbed his heart like knives. In the end, no matter how much Heiji tried to look at it, Kazuha was right. Being a detective, Heiji had successfully served many civilians but as a husband and father, he was a failure. He couldn't save his own daughter and he couldn't save his own wife from slowly dying inside. What was the point of being a detective when he couldn't even protect his own family?_

* * *

 _Heiji decided to draw the line. He quit his job as a detective. It was the toughest decision he had to make and it shocked many of his colleagues. The news became very controversial and spread all over Japan like wild fire. Heiji still worked in the headquarters, taking calls from the emergency hotline and fixing reports on criminal cases. But that was it. He didn't get involved in cases anymore. It gave him more time to look after Kazuha as well. He took all sharp objects and anything she could use to hurt herself away from her. He also made sure that someone looked after her when he's at work._

 _He had handed his case to his father, father-in-law and Otaki-han. He also asked for Kudo's help. Though Shinichi was disappointed with his resignation, in the end he understood and respected his decision. Ran also offered to represent him and Kazuha in court as their lawyer._

 _It took some time, but they were able to track the assailant. It turns out the guy was the brother of one of the criminals Heiji sent to jail. He wanted revenge and he got it. The guy was sent to jail. Heiji and Kazuha got justice for Elle's death but it didn't make everything better. It didn't bring back Elle. It didn't make Kazuha better and it didn't save Heiji from breaking with each day that passed._

* * *

Heiji shortly followed Kazuha to Elle's room so that he can place the flowers on Elle's little side table drawer. He was surprised to find the door unlocked. Kazuha would normally lock it so she was alone. He decided to knock before entering either way. She didn't respond and so he let himself in. He found her standing by the crib as she looked at Elle's framed sonogram which she held in her hand. She looked at him briefly to acknowledge his presence but immediately looked away as she met his gaze.

"I'll just put these here and be on my way out." He said, as if asking for permission.

"Do what you want." She mumbled as she turned her back to him and tiptoed to reach the mobile toy hanging right above Elle's crib. She gently turned the key right on the middle part of the hanging toy so that it would rotate and play soft lullaby music. He walked past her and went straight to the side table drawer to place the vase there.

He stood for a moment to gaze at his wife who was absentmindedly listening to the lullaby music as she stared at Elle's sonogram and gingerly touched it with her fingers. His body moved on its own as he walked towards her. He stood right behind her before he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a tight, needy back hug. Kazuha was taken aback. She froze and tensed, but she didn't push him a way. He Rested his chin on her shoulder and then he let out a soft, remorseful sigh. He inhaled her familiar scent of lavender. He missed her. He missed holding her and so he held her tighter, relishing the moment before it all ended, before she could push him away. He noticed that she lost a lot of weight and it worried him. She felt so fragile under his touch and it scared him.

Kazuha felt uneasy, but she felt that she didn't want to push him away. She moved a little, to get a little comfortable, but Heiji spoke.

"Just give me a few minutes." He begged. "Just let me hold you for just a short while. Just this once, Kazuha…"

She listened and let him hold her. She felt a feeling of warmth and security she hadn't felt for the past few months that she had avoided him. She refused to admit, but she missed him just as much. Suddenly, all the hurt and anger started to subside. It was a different feeling, but it made her feel less heavy, like a part of her heaping emotional baggage had been discarded. Soon, she felt him rest his forehead on her shoulder. Her shirt sleeve was then soaked with his tears.

"I know I have no right, but I miss her a lot today. I miss her every day." He said, choking on his tears. Though she couldn't see him, she could tell that he was crying. He was just as broken as she was and though he tried to hide it and showed off a strong façade, he was hurting too.

For the past four months, Heiji and Kazuha's relationship had been falling apart and in some sort of way, Heiji had been trying to hold it together. He had been holding on even if she had somehow, already let go. He reached out to her so many times, but she pushed him away every time. And though she acted coldly towards him, she remembered all his efforts. Like all those times he secretly sneaked into Elle's room while she was sleeping and put a blanket on her. Kazuha knew and in some sort of way, though she never showed it, appreciated it.

"I know I'm not your favorite person right now, but I want you to know that I'm gonna wait until you forgive me, until you learn to love me again no matter how long it takes." He said before planting a soft kiss on top of her head. He slowly loosened his embrace and let her go. He turned to leave her but just as he was about to walk towards the door, she placed the frame of Elle's sonogram inside the crib and turned to hold him. This time, she was the one giving him a back hug.

"Ahou." She spoke. It had been so long since she had addressed him with their mutual pet name for each other. It sent a feeling of nostalgia towards both of them. She rested her forehead on his nape. Hot tears fell from her eyes and soaked the back of his shirt's collar. "I never stopped loving you, Heiji…"

It had also been so long since she had said his name. Kazuha figured she loved and missed the way his name rolls off her lips and Heiji felt the same way. He lifted his hand to touch the back of hers as he stood and let her hold him. He missed the warmth of her body against him. His heart felt more alive than ever.

"It's just that when she left, it felt like she took my heart with her. I was hurting, Heiji. I'm sorry. I felt so empty." She sobbed. Heiji decided to gently shrug off of her embrace to face her. He lifted her chin and looked into her tearful peridot orbs. She looked into his and noticed that he had been crying as well, an image of him she never saw every day. He looked more vulnerable and imperfect in his state, but she saw a side of him that reminded her that he was also human. Heiji always seemed so strong to her. Even when they were kids, she never once saw him cry. It made her forget that he was also capable of falling and breaking.

"I wanted her too. I wanted her so much, Kazuha. I loved her too, ya' know…" He said and she nodded, regretfully.

"I know, Heiji. I know. I'm sorry." It was her turn to wipe his tears. "I was a mess. I'm sorry I hurt you. I know I can't take back what I said, but I never meant to say it. I just… I was so angry with the world, with everyone. I was so absorbed in the pain I felt I never realized, you were hurting too."

Heiji smiled softly and shook his head. He took her in his arms and embraced her longingly. She rested her head on his chest and returned his embrace. She inhaled the smell of gardenias that had stuck to him when he had brought the flowers and arranged them on the vase. It mixed with his familiar scent that she loved and missed so much.

"Can we start over again, Heiji?" She asked as she pulled away to look at him. He brushed her hair with his fingers and nodded. Just like that all hurt, anger and emptiness subsided.

"I'd love that." He replied softly before he leaned in to brush his lips softly against hers. His kiss was gentle but in some way needy and longing. She returned his kiss with the same level of need. She missed him and he missed her. Hurt made them forget, but slowly, time let them heal and remember how much they loved each other.

The gardenias lay in Elle's room, soon to wither and collect dust as time passed. But Heiji and Kazuha's love rose and grew stronger than ever. Though the flowers lay forgotten in the dark corner of a baby room, Elle's memory, though short-lived remained in Heiji and Kazuha's hearts forever.

* * *

 **AN:** Okay, I don't know if people still do these LJ challenges, but I wanted to try it and phew! This took really long to write. I remember my first KazuHei One Shot was really long, about 6000k+ words. I never expected this one to be much longer than the first (Check out "Beneath Cherry Blossoms in Sannouzi Temple"). Again, I'm sorry if this was way too long to be a one shot and I'm sorry if I bored you! TT_TT I've always wanted to write a scenario in which we'd see a more vulnerable Heiji. He and Shinichi were always portrayed strongly in the series. They always felt invincible and there were only rare instances where you'd see them break down a little. I wanted to do something that would incorporated more of Heiji's emotions as a human instead of a detective. In some sort of way, this is how I pictured Heiji falling. IDK if it felt OOC to you guys, but I wanted to capture his and Kazuha's emotions. That's why I wrote from the part where they were a happy couple to slowly transition to the dark parts in the present. I also did this to show you guys how much Heiji and Kazuha wanted the baby in their lives, hence the situation. IDK if I made it clear.

You guys might be wondering how I came up with the name Elle for KazuHei's daughter. So here's the explanation: I'm one of the people in the DC fandom that has joined the bandwagon of naming Shinichi and Ran's future son, Conan and I figured if ShinRan would get to name their kid after Shinichi's favorite writer, I think Heiji should get to name his kid after Ellery Queen. Hahaha Weird right?

Anyway, I hope that I was able to present the theme well in this one shot. I'm also sorry if this one felt too heavy to be my opening story to my 30 Kisses version of Heiji and Kazuha, I promise that I'd make happier and lighter ones in the future. I hope you guys support me in this. Thank you for reading and please feel free to tell me what you think about this fanfic!

With love,

~J


	2. Bond of Steel

**30 Kisses:** Heiji and Kazuha

 **Title:** Bond of Steel

 **Author:** Jaroslav Lewis

 **Fandom:** Detective Conan

 **Theme:** #13-excessive chain

 **Summary:** Heiji and Kazuha just always end up getting chained together in all worst ways possible, because what is red string of fate when you have a strong chain of handcuffs to connect both of you?

 **Warning:** Rated R for sexual themes

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan or any of Gosho Aoyama's characters. I simply kidnap them when I'm bored and make them binge watch K-dramas with me. Don't worry I make popcorn for them too.

* * *

The first time Heiji and Kazuha were handcuffed together was way back when they were kids. Two innocent seven-year olds snooped into their fathers' stuff and thought that the game of cops and robbers would be a lot better if they used cool, real cop stuff. The poor kids apparently, didn't have the key to unchain themselves and had to wait until their fathers came back from work. By the time Police Chief Criminal Investigator Toyama Ginshiro and Police Super Intendent Hattori Heizo had arrived, Heiji and Kazuha had already done a lot of things together (Granted, they hadn't gotten much choice.), some of them were far too 'intimate' and embarrassing to even bring up as they grew older. But of course, at that time, childhood innocence had no room for any malice. The young boy and the young girl were after all just two curious little children, two playmates who had a little fiasco while playing with their fathers' work stuff. Of course, Heiji and Kazuha got into a lot of trouble for what happened. They had a long sermon from both of their fathers about how they shouldn't be snooping into police stuff and that kids should never be playing with handcuffs. It did not however, take long for the two police officers to receive a long nagging lecture from their wives about how responsible fathers shouldn't be leaving their things within children's reach. All was good in the end. The little incident had become a fond old memory to both the families as the two kids grew up. It had become something that both of their families laughed and made an inside joke about.

It happened the second time when they were seventeen years old and it was unlike the first one. It wasn't an effect of curious innocent child's play but rather, involved a lot of violence, death threats, secret codes, being locked up in a dark, dusty attic, and a huge, nasty old woman pushing Heiji to the creaky wooden floor as she pointed a gun to his head. It was an image Kazuha never wanted to see, the same way that her cries and screams of fear were sounds Heiji never wanted to hear, ever again. It was all the more reason for both of them to swear that they would never be stuck, handcuffed to each other once more.

But for the third time, Heiji and Kazuha were yet again in another handcuff entanglement. It was of course, still as they remembered, uncomfortable as ever, though not as horribly unpleasant as the second time, but it was in no way as cute as the first time. Sure it involved sheer curiosity, not to mention, a different kind of exploration, but it was in no way innocent as the little childhood memory they once had.

* * *

 _It started with a nice candlelit dinner Kazuha had prepared for their wonderful evening. For their 3_ _rd_ _wedding anniversary, the couple decided to have a simple but romantic date night at home. Kazuha fixed up a full-course meal of bacon-wrapped asparagus for the appetizer, tomato-basil lasagna and spinach and cheese-stuffed chicken for the main course and home-made no-bake strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Heiji offered to do the dishes as he figured it was important that he did his share of household chores since Kazuha had already done the cooking. After the dishes were done, the couple handed each other their anniversary gifts. Kazuha got Heiji a limited edition, leather bound, 3-volume set of Ellery Queen's "Masterpieces of Mystery". Heiji on the other hand, got her a 14 karat white gold, heart-shaped locket with elegant diamond embellishment. Inside the locket were the pictures of their fraternal twins,_ _Mikan and Midori_ _on either sides of the locket._

 _Surprises were surely not over for both of them as they had a few glasses of wine and from there, things started to heat up. Heiji crossed over to Kazuha's side of the counter. He stood behind her as he offered to put the locket around her neck. He paused to stare at the soft, smooth skin of her nape that was exposed since her hair was styled in a neat French chignon up do. He lifted his arms and brought the necklace up to her neck and then hooked the chains together at the back. She stood still as she felt him lean closer to her. She gasped as he kissed the sensitive junction between her neck and her shoulder blade. His lips brushed gingerly against her exposed skin, making her shiver._

 _Kazuha grew weak against his touch. She leaned closer to him and pressed her back against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind._

" _Just so you know, I actually have another present for you." She said between her raspy breathing as he left open-mouthed kisses against her neck and jawline. She felt him smirk against her skin before he pulled away, only to press his lips near her ear._

" _You're just so full of surprises arencha'?" He whispered in a low, dulcet tone, sending goosebumps to creep on her smooth skin. She then, turned around to face him and looked into his emerald orbs as she smirked._

" _Well, what are you waiting for? Why don't you peel off the 'wrapping paper' on this one to see what I have for you?" She said playfully, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Heiji smiled softly as placed his left hand on the side of her waist. He lifted his right hand to tuck the stray hair that had left the confines of her neat bun, before sliding it to her back to tug at the zipper on the back of her dark green, v-neckline, bodycon dress that hugged her curves perfectly._

" _Careful. First layer of the 'wrapping paper' is special, not to mention, very expensive." She remembered to warn him since the particular dress was her most favorite among her wardrobe._

" _Oh, I should know. I paid for it after all." He said smugly as he started to pull down the zipper of her dress in an ever so slow and teasing pace. His fingers brushed against the skin of her back that was slowly being exposed, making her shudder against his light touch. Kazuha on the other hand, had started to loosen his dark green tie and was slowly working her way through the buttons of his white, long-sleeved button up shirt._

" _Ahou." She teased. The old, odd "term of endearment" was never lost in the years of their relationship._

 _Heiji smirked at her little remark before he leaned in to press his lips against hers in a soft kiss that didn't stay so for long as his right hand moved from the small of her back up to her chin, gently teasing it down to part her lips and allow himself easy access which she granted to him right away. It didn't take long for them to become both intoxicated with the faint taste of red wine on each other's lips._

 _Lost and drowning in the intensity of their kiss, their movements became driven by sheer passion. Kazuha hadn't even noticed that Heiji had already hoisted her up from the ground even as she willingly wrapped her legs around his waist. Upstairs they went and without breaking their heated kiss, Heiji pushed her to the wall next to the door of their room. With a click of a door knob and one soft push of the door, Heiji entered their dimly-lit bedroom with Kazuha still in his arms. He pinned her to the nearest wall and soon enough her feet were gently placed back on the ground as she held onto him and used the wall to support herself since her knees have gone weak because of his kiss._

 _What seemed like eternity was soon put to a pause when the two pulled away for some air. Both panting, Heiji and Kazuha gazed into each other's eyes. It took a few beats for them to move again to step away from the wall and advance closer to the bed. As soon as the back of Heiji's leg hit the edge of their bed, Kazuha worked her way into sliding Heiji's shirt off of his shoulders. After the harmless shirt was tossed to the ground, Heiji pulled Kazuha closer to him again to plant a soft kiss on her forehead as his hand went by the back of her head to pull the one hairpin holding her long brunette hair up, untangling it from the confines of her French chignon up do as it pooled down her shoulders._

 _His lips brushed gingerly against her jawline and then down to the sensitive spot on her neck as he pushed her hair to one side and tugged at the straps of her dress which right then, moved down her shape and fell smoothly on the floor._

 _He pulled away for a moment to gaze at her exposed beauty and noticed that she had decided to wear something special for him that night. Heiji was in a daze and entrapped in her charm. Butterflies fluttered chaotically inside Kazuha's stomach as she felt his eyes on her. She had been exposed to him several times before. They were husband and wife. It was no big deal. But for some odd reason she still felt the same feeling as when they had their first night together. The tension in her heart was still there. Unknown to her, Heiji also felt the same. No matter how many times he has seen her, she'd always look the same. Beautiful as always. Like the first time he saw her. Like their first night together._

" _The second layer's prettier, though. Too bad, it has to go." Heiji teased, breaking the silence between them. The grin on Heiji's face grew wider as Kazuha's blush grew redder with his statement. She was about to call him an ahou yet again when her retort was cut off and lost in another passionate kiss._

 _Her thoughts were about to get clouded again in pure bliss when something snapped in her.–An idea that sparked from pure curiosity. A part of her was hesitant, but instinct told her to feel otherwise. There wasn't much time to think. Heiji was distracted, trying to distract her, hands lost control in wandering touches._

 _It was a little game, a battle on who loses focus first and Kazuha swore to never lose to him again. She was going to have it her way this time. And so, it took her all the self-control she could muster to get her plan together and she acted fast._

 _As Heiji busied himself trying to figure out the intricacies of her little outfit, Kazuha's hand sneaked through the back pocket of his pants to take out a cold chain link of hard steel. She smirked against Heiji's lips. Just as she thought, he had kept them there. He had always placed them there for work. Heiji rarely had any use for them. The police officers always took care of the arresting. But tonight, Kazuha was sure to make good use of them._

 _ **Clink.**_

 _The evident sound of metal chains clashing shook Heiji's awareness of his surroundings and made him jerk back, putting a short end to such a pleasing kiss._

" _K-kazuha?" He blinked back, with eyes albeit startled, were glassy with desire._

 _And though being a detective skilled in Kendo has sharpened his senses reflexes so well, his capacity to think vanished in the moment and in the beautiful sight of her before him. In one swift move, he was pushed to the bed by such a petite, pretty lady._

 _As his head hit the headboard, Heiji reminded himself that it was never good to underestimate her. Looks can be deceiving. Aikido has made her strong. It didn't look like it, but like him, she was also a skilled martial artist and could easily flip men and beat them to a pulp._

 _But she was such a sweet, lovely wife that it made him forget such fact about her at times._

 _Startled by her newfound boldness and attracted to her beauty, Heiji watched her every movement as she climbed the bed and positioned herself on top of him. Kazuha smirked as she dangled the handcuffs she took from him, right in front of his face. It took a few seconds for him to fully process what was happening._

 _ **Click.**_

 _Before he could even protest, Kazuha had already handcuffed his right wrist and she grinned in pure success. The shocked look on Heiji's face satisfied her even more._

" _Wait- "He tried to stop her but to no avail, was cut off as she pressed her lips against his as her free hand slid down his bare chest, touching him in the right places. Her lips moved to his jawline and then to his neck and all thoughts of his were lost in the hazy cloud of arousal that took over his mind. And then she started moving again, getting through with her plan as she thought she figured him out. But Heiji was smart enough to play her game._

 _So he fought back because there was something he had to tell her, but what was it again?_

 _He kept forgetting about it. She was so damn good at distracting him._

 _And she fought as well. She was sure as hell determined to win in their battle for dominance and god was she strong._

 _Heiji struggled and swung his hand that bore such a peculiar silver bracelet. And then..._

 _ **Click.**_

 _The other side of the handcuffs swung and caught Kazuha's left wrist perfectly._

 _Kazuha's light green eyes widened in shock. Heiji gaped._

" _Crap." He muttered._

" _No worries. We could unlock it with the key and play this little game longer." Kazuha said, giggling flirtatiously as she tried to give him ideas, but the detective of the west seemed to have drifted to another place, lost in his thoughts._

 _She stared at him for a while and she read him. She didn't have to be a detective to figure him out._

" _Heiji…"_

 _He failed to respond as he stared at their tangled wrists._

" _Please tell me you have the key to unlock this thing."_

 _Heiji gulped and prepared himself for the scolding of his life. But she was silent and he waited._

* * *

"Say Kazuha…" Heiji said, breaking the awkward silence between him and his wife as he sat on their bed, shirtless with his wife on his lap, facing him. Her legs were on either sides of his waist, straddling him.

He gazed at the beauty that is her. She was clad in provocative, lacy, pale pink lingerie that complimented her fair skin so stunningly. She looked undeniably alluring in her outfit but her face showed an innocent, half-furious, half-embarrassed expression. Her lips were pouted in the most adorable way possible and her cheeks were flushed crimson red. Her eyebrows furrowed in a frustrated manner as she refused to meet his gaze. Cute and sexy were both contrasting together but Kazuha seemed to be a combination of both, a fact that Heiji couldn't help but marvel at.

Under normal circumstances, Heiji could've easily surrendered to primal, animalistic urges. Screw self-control and reason. He could easily flip her and pin her to the soft mattress of their king-sized bed as he kissed her senselessly, but instead both of them stayed still in their intimate position. He kept his gaze on her as he waited for her to say something but words refused to come out of their mouths as uncomfortable silence continued to fill the air. He felt the lump in his throat thicken as his mouth went dry while they both waited on each other. Heiji figured, he couldn't keep their game of stillness going on forever and so he decided to speak up.

"Remember when we were little our dads told us to never play with handcuffs?" He brought up, clearing his throat. The statement increased the level of awkwardness that surrounded both of them. Kazuha's furious light green eyes darted a glare towards his dark green ones. Heiji yelped, anticipating a loud retort from her or maybe a hard smack on his head, but instead she simply rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Yes." She hissed under her breath as she looked away from him again to hide the guilty expression on her face.

"I think now's the right time to say that we should've just listened to them." Heiji said, stifling a laugh. He also took a mental note not to make jokes during embarrassing situations. It surely did not lighten up the mood.

His gaze then travelled to her left wrist that wore a peculiar accessory of a hard steel bracelet that was connected by a short link of little chains that were attached to an identical steel bracelet wrapped around his right wrist.

"As I have recalled, they only said 'children should not play with handcuffs.' They could've warned us that it's not for adults too." He added, unaware that he had just said his thoughts out loud. He was surprised when Kazuha, who seemed to have lost her cool lifted her left hand in attempt to hit him, but was immediately stopped with the restriction of the handcuffs that connected her wrist to his.

"Ahou." She muttered under her breath as she gave up her attempt at hitting him hard with her hand that was closer to him. Her dominant hand was free, but she suddenly didn't feel like exerting much effort anymore. After all, to say it was kind of her fault was an understatement.

Under dim light, Heiji could still see Kazuha's beautiful peridot orbs that were teary with frustration and annoyance. He immediately took the hint. He could be such a moron about a lot of things but seeing her crestfallen, especially on the night of their third wedding anniversary was not something he'd like to see. So, he decided to diffuse the situation before everything went haywire.

"Okay, let's not panic." He said calmly as his freehand touched her shoulder. Being a detective, Heiji had well-mastered being calm during desperate situations. Age has also matured him in different ways. Over the years, he had learned to manage his hot-temper and impulsiveness and he figured at such times, his newfound self-control did come pretty handy.

"Do you have a hairpin or something we could use to pick the lock?" He asked.

"Inside the first drawer of our night stand." She answered and immediately he moved his right hand to reach the drawer by his right side, forgetting that it was chained to his wife's left wrist. Such action caused Kazuha to grit in pain as her left wrist was dragged carelessly and obliviously by Heiji's force and sudden movement.

"Careful!" She whined.

"Sorry." He said as he shifted his position so that he wouldn't injure his wife's wrist as he reached for their side table drawer.

Kazuha watched intently as Heiji started picking the lock. She silently prayed that picking the lock would work, but Heiji seemed to be struggling with it.

Heiji on the other hand, had started to wonder where his wife started getting ideas. Unbeknownst to him, Kazuha had been thinking about it since they came back to Osaka after their recent visit to Tokyo.

* * *

 _The bookstore from where Kazuha had to buy her anniversary present for Heiji could only be found in Tokyo and only shipped items within the city. So, she asked Ran to take the delivery and cover for her in the meantime. She also figured that it would also be a good opportunity to visit her and Sonoko again to catch up. Ever since the twins came, she and Heiji hardly had any time for anything else. All their hours were spent on their respective careers and on their son, Midori and their daughter, Mikan. Kazuha was thrilled that Heiji did not get suspicious with her motives and that he did not get any ideas about her surprise. She could barely keep anything from him. –One of the cons of marrying a great detective._

 _Unknown to her, Heiji had a different motive as well. Turns out, he too was also going to buy Kazuha's anniversary present in a store in Tokyo. Heiji had found a good place (thanks to Shinichi's help), to buy the locket. It was the only piece and was sold only in that one store in Tokyo. So, when Kazuha asked him if they could come to Tokyo to visit Ran-chan, he did not have any second thoughts about saying yes. It was the perfect fool-proof plan. –Kazuha, Ran and Sonoko catching up, him and Kudo catching up as well while they go to the store to check the locket out. It would be great, like hitting two birds with one stone._

 _And so while Heiji and Shinichi were out, there Kazuha was in the living room of the Kudo mansion with her two closest friends catching up with some tea and cake that Ran had prepared. By their side, in a playpen for the toddlers were Mikan, Midori and Conan._

" _Thank you so much, Ran-chan for doing this for me. You're a life saver!" Kazuha said as Ran handed her the package Kazuha had asked her to keep for the meantime._

" _No worries. I had to keep this from Shinichi because that guy tells Hattori-kun everything. But other than that, it was no biggie." Ran said as she settled the parchment she had kept for Kazuha on the table and then poured tea into Kazuha's cup. "I'm really glad this opportunity came and you finally had the time to visit us, Kazuha-chan."_

" _I know right? I miss you both a lot. Heiji and I have been very busy. Him with the cases and me with the kids in the hospital, both of us with Mi-kun and Mi-chan. The twins are really a handful." Kazuha said._

" _Tell me about it. Conan's been keeping me and Shinichi up every night. I could only imagine you and Hattori-kun's struggle with Midori-kun and Mikan-chan." Ran agreed. "But still, everything's all worth it. It's all rewarding in the end, ne?"_

 _Kazuha turned at her cute daughter and son playing with Ran's toddler and smiled._

" _Yeah. It sure is." She giggled, before bringing the cup of warm chamomile tea to her lips._

" _Aww, you two. Look at both of you being such great mommies. Gosh, you guys grew up so fast. I'm a proud friend to be honest, but a little out of place since I can't relate." Sonoko joked, pouting before she brought a bite of the slice of Ran's lemon chiffon cake with cream cheese frosting up to her mouth after she had punctured it with a dessert fork._

 _Ran giggled at Sonoko's remark before she lightly hit her friend's rib with her elbow._

" _You and Kyogoku-san have been married for some time, now. Don't you think it's time to fill your mansion with mini versions of you two, running around?" Ran asked and Sonoko shrugged._

" _Hmmm, we'll get there I guess. Makoto's brought it up too and we've talked about it. I'm not against the whole idea, but for now I'd just really like to enjoy my married life with my hubby." Sonoko replied with a smile. "Besides, I want to watch and learn from you guys first. For now, I'll just be the cool and fab aunty who'd spoil Conan, Midori and Mikan."_

" _Anyway, what are your plans for the wedding anniversary, Kazuha-chan?" Sonoko then asked curiously as she turned to their Osakan friend and gave her a knowing wink, making Kazuha blush a light pink shade._

" _Eh? Well, not much. Heiji and I are just gonna have a nice dinner at home with the twins. Shizuka-kaasan will be going to Sapporo with Heizo-tousan for an event and my parents will be going to Hokkaido to visit some close relatives. We can't leave Mi-kun and Mi-chan with anybody else." Kazuha answered. The hint of disappointment in her tone didn't go unnoticed by Sonoko and Ran. But immediately, she decided to shrug it off with a smile. "It will be fun. It will be the first time we'll be celebrating our anniversary with the twins."_

 _Somehow the last statement felt as if Kazuha was trying to convince herself. Not only did it sound like that to Ran and Sonoko, but to Kazuha herself too. It seemed wrong in a way, but no matter how she tried to deny it, she strongly felt it. It was the truth and she felt like an irresponsible parent for feeling so._

" _Something tells me you're a bit upset about this." Ran scooted closer to Kazuha's side, coaxing her to tell the truth. "Come on, we don't have to be detectives to figure you out, Kazuha-chan."_

" _Well, I was honestly looking forward to spending some time with Heiji. Alone." Kazuha confessed sighing. Her cheeks have gone a darker shade of red due to embarrassment. She brought her teacup up to her face and took another sip to hide her blushing face. After taking a long sip from her cup of tea, she placed it on the table again and looked down at her lap to avoid Ran and Sonoko's gaze._

" _I mean, I know right now, my priority should be Mi-kun and Mi-chan and I love the twins so much. I don't want you guys to think that I'm being a bad mother, ya' know. But the thing is, I rarely spend time with Heiji now and I kind of miss him." She continued shyly._

" _Other than that, there's something that has been bothering me for the past few weeks now. I know it's silly but I've been really bothered by something my colleague said about relationships losing spark and all. And to be honest, things between me and Heiji have been a little…bland, ya' know…" Kazuha added, mumbling her last sentence almost inaudibly. It was then that she realized how much she had blubbered and she felt even more nervous and embarrassed with what she said._

" _It's normal to feel that way. Sometimes, we also need a little break from parenting." Ran assured as she gave her friend a pat on the back._

" _You know, if you really want to spend time with Hattori-kun on your anniversary, Shinichi and I could babysit the twins for you guys. We could come to Osaka that day and rent a villa overnight and you can drop Mikan-chan and Midori-kun there before you celebrate your anniversary." Ran suggested, putting a hopeful but a bit hesitant smile on Kazuha's face._

 _Of course to Kazuha, the idea was great and she knew very well that she could trust Ran with her kids. Ran was the queen of all mothers for goodness' sake. Even during their teens, Ran had already been a great "mom" and for so many years Kazuha looked up to her and admired her parenting skills. However, she did not want to be a nuisance to Ran and Kudo-kun. She knew very well that they have their own affairs to deal with. Shinichi was a successful detective in Tokyo and Ran has been busy with her career as a lawyer, also assisting her mom in their law firm. The couple also have a toddler of their own to take care of. Furthermore, Mikan and Midori can be quite a handful and she very well knows that._

" _Gee, Ran-chan. I mean, I don't want to trouble you and Kudo-kun…" Kazuha said hesistantly._

" _It's no trouble at all. Shinichi and I love having Midori-kun and Mikan-chan around. Besides, Conan could really use some playmates and we could really use an out of town family trip." Ran said sincerely. "What do you say?"_

" _Well, if you say so, then it's really tempting. But I guess, I'd have to discuss this with Heiji first. And you should probably ask permission from Kudo-kun first." Kazuha pointed out, before taking her first bite on Ran's lemon cake which she found really delicious and took a mental note about asking her for the recipe._

 _Somehow, she felt lighter and more relieved with Ran's words but it didn't take long for Sonoko to interrupt and set the mood back to awkward and bring the topic back just when Kazuha and Ran had thought they had finally settled the conflict._

" _Bland you say huh? You don't possibly mean like no sex, right?" Sonoko blurted as if it had been the only thing she was thinking about since Kazuha stated her dilemma. Kazuha choked on her cake and Ran almost spit the tea she was drinking at their friend's blunt statement._

" _It's not like that!" Kazuha snapped defensively after she had painfully gulped the cake down her throat._

' _Eh… So, maybe it's kinda like that.' She silently thought to herself._

" _Sonoko!" Ran hissed, scolding and Sonoko simply snickered playfully. The redness on Kazuha's cheeks had come back just when it had started to subside._

" _What? We're all grownups here. And the toddlers are way too young to even understand what we're talking about." Sonoko argued jokingly. Ran shot her a stern glare which Sonoko shrugged off with a huge grin on her face, just like she used to do when they were in high school._

 _Sonoko then turned her attention to Kazuha who just looked at her with big, round clueless light green eyes._

" _Tell you what, Kazuha-chan. If you really want it to be less bland with Heiji, I suggest that you kick things up a notch. Spice things up. Get creative." Sonoko stated, nonchalantly before she gave Kazuha another wink. Slowly, the uneasiness had started to transform into curiosity. Unknowingly, she found herself getting interested in what Sonoko was bound to suggest._

" _How do I do that?" She asked, turning her full attention to Sonoko._

" _Experiment. Use your imagination. If you ask me, there are plenty things you can do, considering your husband's occupation and interests. Isn't that right, Ran?" Sonoko replied as flashed Ran a sinister grin, causing the latter to turn as red as Kazuha had earlier._

" _Sonoko!" Ran whined, hitting her friend with a throw pillow. Sonoko smirked, teasing her friend, knowing exactly how to push Ran's buttons._

" _Anyway, Kazuha. Any fantasies of Heijji, you know of? You can use that to your advantage." Sonoko said, before taking another sip from her tea._

 _Kazuha's thoughts started to drift as she thought hard, but there isn't anything she could come up with._

" _Not that I know of, no." She sighed, disheartened. Sonoko figured, Kazuha was a lot more difficult to play than Ran, but she wasn't going to give up._

" _How about you? Anything you want to try with Heiji?" She asked, her lips forming an amused, teasing smile as she observed how Kazuha turn red again._

 _ **Bingo.**_

 _Kazuha's mind on the other hand, drifted to Sonoko's words earlier._

" _If you ask me, there are plenty things you can do, considering your husband's occupation and interests."_

" _Well, looks like I sparked something in you." Sonoko remarked, proud with her work before she sat back and took another bite on her slice of cake._

" _Don't listen to her, Kazuha-chan." Ran said, before shooting Sonoko another scolding glare, knowing just how Sonoko's mischievous ideas could cause a lot of ruckus. "Sonoko, don't give her such ideas."_

" _Yeah right. Says the wifey who dressed up as Irene Adler for her Sherlock Holmes-nerd hubby." Sonoko shot back with a tone filled with so much sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. Suddenly Ran was silent again and looking away trying to hide her crimson-red cheeks. Sonoko couldn't help but become even more amused._

" _Didn't you say, Shinichi looked really hot smoking that tobacco pipe?" Sonoko teased, grinning as childishly threw a throw pillow at her. Ran on the other hand, wanted to disappear into a puff of smoke to save herself from further embarrassment._

" _How come I never knew about this, Ran-chan?" Kazuha asked curiously as she raised an eye-brow at the Kudo-wife._

" _Sonoko, we promised never to speak about 'that'" Ran retorted._

" _Besides, shouldn't we be focusing on Kazuha's plans, instead." She added, immediately changing the topic to divert the attention towards Kazuha._

" _So, what do you think, Kazuha-chan?" Sonoko asked as she raised an eyebrow mischievously._

" _I think it actually sounds like a good idea…" She answered, mumbling it absentmindedly as her thoughts drifted to an idea that had just sparked in her head._

* * *

"Ouch! Be gentle, Heiji!"

"I would if you would just hold still."

"I don't think you know what you're doing."

"Yeah right, as if you would if you were in my place."

"THIS WAS SO NOT A GOOD IDEA." Kazuha groaned as she watched Heiji pull and tug on the pin that was stuck to the lock of the handcuffs.

"Ya' think?" Heiji muttered sarcastically, losing his patience. "Ya had to use the handcuffs. Ya' could've used my belt or my necktie or somethin' but ya' had had to use these handcuffs."

"Shut up! Don't ya' dare be sarcastic with me. You were the one who left the keys!" Kazuha retorted accusingly.

' _Besides, your belt and tie wouldn't be strong enough to hold you down.'_ She silently thought to herself.

"You were the one who freakin' tried to handcuff me!" Heiji argued as he turned his attention from the chain of hard steel to his stubborn wife.

"Well, you never told me you didn't have the keys!" Kazuha reasoned out angrily. Of course deep down, she knew it was her entire fault but it still hurt her pride. Furthermore, she was a bit tad upset with how her plan failed and Heiji tended to rub it in.

"Dammit, Kazuha! I was trying to tell you! You were distracting me!" Heiji's tone rose and there was a long pause between them. His emeralds met with her peridot orbs briefly before she broke their eye contact. He blushed, realizing he had snapped and slipped.

Heiji tried to bring his focus back on the picking the lock again, but he had lost all capacity to think. It was not helping that his hormones were pumping through his stream, messing with his head. He was too _frustrated_ to calm down. And despite how annoyed he was with how his wife was being so difficult and troublesome, he couldn't get over how irresistible she was. And god, was she so damn beautiful arguing with him that way. Even if she did tick him off at times, the way she frowned and pouted her lips was so cute, it turned him on. She was so mesmerizing in such a crazy way. Oh, how Heiji wished he could just pry the stupid handcuffs off right away and take her. But damn was that thing too strong. Screw Osaka Prefecture Police Department and their damn security.

Kazuha on the other hand, felt really guilty of the whole situation. It didn't take a while for her to feel guilty about arguing with Heiji. She knew it was her fault for having such foolish ideas. And she wasn't quite sure if she and Heiji were still in the mood to even continue from where they left off. The whole thing was just crazy and it exhausted her. She just wanted to get the thing over with and save herself from all the embarrassment. She felt stupid, for embarrassing herself in front of her husband on such a special evening and now, there they were bickering again, on the night of their wedding anniversary.

"All I wanted was a romantic evening with Heiji. Is that too much to ask?" She sighed. It took a few seconds for her to realized that she had just spoken her thoughts out loud and before she could even shrug it off, Heiji had already forgotten about the handcuffs he had been trying to unlock for some time, now. His gorgeous dark green eyes (that Kazuha loved so much) were all on her as his expression softened. Kazuha bit her lip shyly as she looked down at their handcuffed-wrists, the little mess she made.

* * *

 _For the past few months since Midori and Mikan came, Heiji and Kazuha's relationship had taken a 180 degree turn. It was all good, but very different. Life with the twins was a whole lot of fun. They were double the bundle of joy, but of course, also double the responsibility. A lot has changed since especially their priorities. Being good parents was now at the top of their list of many things to do. Then, there were other kids Kazuha had to attend to, since she has been a successful resident pediatrician at the Osaka Women's and Children's Hospital. Meanwhile, Heiji had his numerous cases to solve. Suddenly, they barely had time to do the things they used to do back when it was just the two of them._

 _But there were some nights when they'd still try._

" _Night's still young and the twins are fast asleep." Heiji whispered suggestively in his wife's ear as he lay and tuck himself in bed with her and then scooted closer to her. His arm snaked teasingly around her waist before he roughly pulled her closer to him and pressed a kiss on her bare shoulder._

" _Heiji… We have work tomorrow. I have a scheduled check up with one of my patients, early in the morning and Otousan wants you early in the headquarters tomorrow." She protested, reminding him as she turned back to a book she had been reading to ready herself for sleep. Though she had completely lost focus on what paragraph she stopped when Heiji had interrupted her. Also, the suggestion felt tempting and she loved the warmth of his body against her so much._

" _It's still early. So, I suggest you put that damn book away so we can get started. Besides what's so interesting about that book for you to neglect you to neglect your own husband, anyway?" He asked giving her the cutest face he could do to capture her full attention._

" _I should ask the same thing about Ellery Queen." She said, giggling she settled her book on their night stand, soon for it to lay forgotten as she gave him the attention he wanted. Heiji chuckled triumphantly as he shifted his position so that she lay trapped in his arms as he leaned in to capture her lips with his._

 _Just when things started to heat up, a soft baby's cry filled the speaker of the baby monitor sitting by their night stand. Immediately, the couple pulled away from each other, a bit disappointed. But such feeling was lost in urgency as both of them hopped out of bed to dash to the twins' room to find Mikan, awake and soon followed Midori who was interrupted in his deep slumber by his sister._

 _Heiji picked Mikan up in his arms and Kazuha held Midori._

" _It's okay, princess. Daddy's here." He said softly as he looked into his baby girl's dark green eyes that were very much similar to his. It was the only physical feature she inherited from him. She takes after Kazuha so much, which was one of the reasons why Heiji's pretty much wrapped around the infant's finger. The baby girl's crying had started to subside upon hearing her father's voice. She rested her head on her father's shoulder. Her little arms were pressed against his chest and her eyelids started to grow heavy, drooping sleepily as Heiji gently rocked her back and forth._

 _Kazuha on the other hand, handled her irate baby boy who was being moody about waking up to his sister loud cries._

" _Yosh, yosh." She hushed at her son softly. "You take after Heiji so much. Not only did you inherit his looks but his temper as well hmmm?"_

 _Kazuha giggled as she gazed at the toddler version of Heiji in her arms. Midori had Heiji's same dark skin and jet-black hair. It was only Kazuha's light green eyes that he inherited from his mother._

" _Ahou. What's that supposed to mean? You throw quite a tantrum too." Heiji argued as he walked closer to Kazuha, still holding the sleeping Mikan protectively with his right arm. Kazuha simply smiled, shaking the argument away as she rocked Midori in her arms, humming him a soft lullaby._

" _Sorry, buddy. I'm sure your baby sister didn't mean to wake you up in your sleep." Heiji said as he ruffled his son's hair with his left hand._

" _Look at you, playing favorites already." Kazuha scolded playfully after she had briefly paused her lullaby._

" _I don't play favorites. Midori is older than Mikan for about a few minutes which makes him the elder brother. He should understand because he's older than her. When they grow up he's gonna protect her from all the sneaky boys trying to make a pass at her." Heiji reasoned. Kazuha on the other hand, rolled her eyes and then continued to sing Midori a lullaby and it was enough for Heiji to become mesmerized by the sound of her voice as well as the sight of her gently taking care of Midori. Heiji couldn't quite explain it, but Kazuha looked even more beautiful with their baby in her arms._

 _It took a few more minutes before Midori fell asleep in Kazuha's arms. The little boy could be quite difficult at times. Not long after, the two parents gently tucked their babies to bed and then they went back into their room as well (finally)._

 _But as soon as their backs hit the soft mattress all thoughts of continuing their cut-short make out session was gone. Putting the kids to sleep made them want to crawl into deep slumber. Kazuha snuggled closer into Heiji's arms and it did not take long for them to fall asleep, tangled in each other's warm embrace._

* * *

 _Morning followed and after a goodnight's sleep, the two woke up quite nicely. Stirring awake as the sun's rays touched her face, Kazuha's eyes met Heiji's. Turns out the great detective of the west had been lying awake in bed for some minutes now but chose to stay where he was so that he could just watch her sleep._

" _Ohayo, Tantei-han." She greeted him thoughtfully, beating the sun's brightness as she smiled._

" _Ohayo, Dr. Hattori." He greeted back. The deep sound of his just-woke-up-voice was enough to send chills running down her spine. "So, it's still early. Want to pick up from where we left off last night?"_

 _Despite how awfully numb and dead Heiji's whole body was due to sleep, he had managed to make a move on her already as he flipped over her so she was trapped between him and the mattress._

" _Ahou. We didn't even get to start last night." Kazuha said, giggling as her husband had started planting soft kisses against the exposed skin of her shoulder blade and neck. "Heiji, we're gonna be late."_

" _Relax. A few minutes won't hurt." Heiji protested as he pulled away from her, only to lean in again to press his lips against hers in a fierce kiss that was enough to leave both of them breathless._

" _H-Heiji. We have work." She tried to protest as his lips left hers to trail kisses against her jawline while his hands had started to creep up underneath her camisole, touching her bare skin. His hot breath against her neck and his hand gliding against her skin were enough to make her weak._

 _And then the faint sound of the twins cooing filled their baby monitor. The two snapped out of their hazy thoughts and pulled away from each other._

" _Whoops. That's our cue." Kazuha said as she lightly pushed her husband off of her. Heiji sighed._

" _I cannot catch a break here, can I?"_

" _Sorry, Heiji."_

 _Apparently, mornings weren't kind enough to give them a chance either._

* * *

 _And so when Kazuha had "the talk" with her colleague, she couldn't help but be a bit alarmed._

 _In the clinic, one of Kazuha's fellow doctors just openly discussed her recent divorce. The woman was of course, forlorn about the incident but still handled it with much grace and maturity. Kazuha on the other hand felt down about it. She just couldn't imagine how a couple who chose to commit to each other in marriage would just grow apart and throw away their relationship. It was too difficult for her to process._

 _She thought about Heiji and the possibility of him getting tired of her and drifting from her and it broke her heart. She just couldn't imagine her life without him. He had always been her partner in life. They had a bond of steel and she chose to believe in it._

" _When you're way past the honeymoon stage and the spark's gone. The marriage becomes bland. Soon your relationship grows cold and everything just changes. Time changes people." Hanare-san, Kazuha's colleague said as she shrugged. There was a hint of remorse in her tone and with the way she looked into Kazuha's eyes as she said such words. "But of course, I guess it was my fault too. I didn't give him much of my time. I got really busy…"_

 _And since then, her statement had left a mark in Kazuha._

 _Kazuha on the other hand, hoped that her and Heiji's bond of steel was strong enough to hold their relationship together._

* * *

She noticed Heiji's left hand move. His thumb and index finger cupped her chin, lifting it so that she looked up at him. Her peridot orbs were filled with worry.

"Heiji, do you think we've already lost our spark?" She asked. "Please answer me honestly."

' _So, all of this was because she thought that she and I…'_

Heiji was caught off guard with her question. He never thought that she would get such ideas. Of course, he had been aware that he and Kazuha hardly have much time for each other and truth be told, he missed spending time with her. But it never bothered him that much. He understood very well. She loves the twins and she loves her career but it never meant that she doesn't love him just as much. He knew it was the same with him and that she understood it very well too. After all, they were already parents. They had grown and taken their relationship to another level higher. He never knew the sudden change in their life had such an impact on her and that she has been having doubts.

"It's just that lately, I have been Midori and Mikan's mother, a doctor at the hospital, but not so much Heiji's wife." She confessed.

"Ahou." He smiled softly at her as he teasingly poked at her forehead, causing her to flinch. "A spark only lasts for a brief moment. A bond of steel on the other hand, lasts a lifetime."

"Heiji…"

"Hey, I promised I wouldn't let go right?" He reminded her as he lifted his right hand and turned it so that the back of it showed. "Kazuha, I held onto that cliff holding you long enough to know, that I was never gonna let you go."

Kazuha glanced at the small but evident ragged line on the back of Heiji's right hand, right next to the knuckle of his index finger. She recognized the scar very well, after all, she was the one who gave it to him, in an attempt to save him from falling from a cliff with her. Her eyes then travelled the gold band on the fourth finger of his right hand, very much identical to the one she wore on the fourth finger of her left hand.

"And remember, you promised not to let go either." Heiji reminded as he grinned and gazed at the shining gold band on the fourth finger of her left hand, the hand he once held and chose to held onto for life.

"Of course. You told me you'd kill me yourself if I didn't hold on tight." Kazuha smiled, knowingly as she reminisced an old fond memory of holding onto Heiji as they both escape the bombed ruins of Satsuki hall in Kyoto after her catastrophic final match in her first Karuta Tournament against Momiji Ooka.

"Ne,Heiji... I'm sorry I got us into this." She apologized as she used her right arm to pull him for a hug which Heiji willingly returned with his unrestricted left arm.

"Funny, how we always end up in these weird situations." He remarked, smiling as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"And bicker over the pettiest things." She added, chuckling softly.

Heiji then pulled away from such a satisfying embrace to gaze at Kazuha's face. He raised an eyebrow as he tucked her bangs behind her ear using his freehand.

"Hey, I've been bickering with you all my life and look where it got us now? Married with two kids and supposedly making baby number 3 if it weren't for these handcuffs." He teased, earning a light punch on the shoulder from his wife.

"You sneaky ahou. We can barely even manage the twins and you want a baby number three." Kazuha complained playfully. Heiji laughed.

"So, what do you say? How about we go down the garage and get some tools to take this thing off and pick up from where we left off? Hmm? Sounds good?" Heiji flashed her a childish grin, Kazuha knew instantly that she couldn't resist him. Also, it was still the night of their anniversary after all.

She was about to move so that both of them could briefly hop out of bed, when Heiji moved his arm and tugged at the chain of their handcuffs, roughly yanking her forward, pulling her to him so her weight crashed against his and her lips pressed against his for a sudden kiss. Her eyes widened in shock. She was still clueless when he briefly pulled away and pressed his lips against her ear, whispering, "You know what, on second thought, I think I can make this work. That is, if you're up for a challenge."

Kazuha smirked.

"Challenge accepted, Tantei-han." She whispered back in his ear, in a sultry voice that was enough to send him off the edge as he flipped them over and pulled the covers over them (with his free hand) for a long night of passion.

* * *

The morning after, Heiji used his tools in the garage to cut the metal chains of their handcuffs. Just when Kazuha had decided to dispose of them, Heiji immediately stopped her. He then took the broken chains from her and cut a small piece of them as a "souvenir" to be placed inside each of their Omamori pouches that held the old chains from their very first handcuff fiasco.

' _He remembered.'_ Kazuha thought smiling as her husband reached up to her head and slid her Omamori necklace down to her neck before he wore his own as a necklace identical to hers.

La vena amoris or the "vein of love", according to the Ancient Greeks was the vein that ran directly from the fourth finger of the left hand to the heart. Such theory sparked the tradition of married couples wearing their wedding rings on the fourth finger of the left hand.

Heiji and Kazuha however, chose to defy such tradition, simply because their belief held a more valuable promise only the two of them share, a promise that had sprung from a chain of memories they've had since childhood. Heiji wore his wedding ring on his right hand because it was the hand that got handcuffed to Kazuha's. It was also the same hand that held hers and got scarred by her when they hang on the cliff for dear life. Kazuha on the other hand, wore her ring on her left hand because it was the hand that got handcuffed to Heiji's when they were little, also the hand that Heiji held and chose not to let go.

For the third time, Heiji's and Kazuha's same hands were handcuffed on the night of their third anniversary, as if reminding them of such promise, as if telling them that no matter how troublesome their relationship could get, they would always end up and choose to be stuck with each other.

Some couples have their red string of fate, but Heiji and Kazuha have something stronger. Theirs was a chain link of steel, a bond that was forged in fire, strengthened through time and bound to last for a lifetime.

* * *

 **A.N.** Okay so it's 4am here and I wasn't able to proofread the latter part of the story. I apologize if there are typographical errors or grammatically incorrect phrases/sentences. I always end up writing such long one shots. I swear, I did not intend for this to be so long but an idea just sprung from another like an excessive chain. (LOL. Even used the theme in my Author's Note.) Anyway, I'm sorry it took a while for me to make this update. I actually intended to post a different story and use a different theme from the list. I initially wrote something for theme #27-overflow. I even finished halfway, but as I was writing, I realized there were loopholes and some of the ideas weren't thoroughly put together. It took a while before I decided to set it aside and write something else, while I was having a hard time piecing it up. So, I came up with this very mature KazuHei one shot. IDK if this could even be considered as smut/lemon/lime, but yeah, I tried. Sorry if it wasn't any good. I had a better grasp of the ideas on this one compared to the original second oneshot I first wrote, but I had a hard time writing the mature parts. So yeah, this was slowly and carefully created. I also did some research on the La Vena Amoris so that I could connect it well with the handcuff thing. Hahaha. I hope it didn't seem forced. I did some asking around with Kazuha's occupation. And many answered doctor or teacher since she's good with kids. So, I came up with pediatrician. Hihihihi 3 And yeah, I think it suits her well. Also, to clarify, this whole series is not meant to cover only a married Kazuha and Heiji. It just so happens that my two consecutive one shots are about a married KazuHei, because it's honestly fun to work on stories of them being married. I mean, there are just so many possibilities and I honestly like imagining them being more mature and intimate, 'coz we hardly ever see that in the series and the closest we've seen was the scenario in OVA 9. But I assure you, while I have quite a lot of married KazuHei scenarios in my head, I also have some present KazuHei/teen KazuHei scenarios to show you. I also watched Movie 21 last month and I've had some inspired ideas from it. Hihihi Notice, I included a certain reference from the movie here. Sorry for spoiling those who haven't watched it. TT_TT

Hope you guys liked this! Feel free to tell me what you think.

Love,

~J

* * *

 **Omake 1:**

"I hope the twins didn't cause you guys much trouble." Kazuha said as she took Mikan from Ran while Heiji took Midori from Shinichi.

"Oh, they were sweet little angels." Ran said as she lightly poked Mikan's cheek before she gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. Mikan cooed and giggled adorably.

Shinichi on the other hand scooted closer to Hattori as he ruffled Midori's hair.

"Oi, oi, Hattori. I love your kids and they were adorable, but you owe me one. Never forget that I babysat them just so you 'could get some'." Shinichi muttered in a tone so low only Heiji could hear. Heiji lightly hit him on the rib with his elbow, causing the latter to yelp.

"Yeah, yeah. You can count on me anytime on your and Neechan's wedding anniversary."Heiji whispered as he patted his friend's back.

"Well, we'll see you guys soon!" Kazuha said, bidding their friends goodbye as they proceeded to step out of Shinichi and Ran's rented villa.

"Come on Mi-kun, MI-chan! Say, 'Bye bye!'" She said to her twins as she moved Mikan's hand with hers in a waving gesture. Heiji also did the same with Midori's.

As Kazuha and Heiji lifted their hands the sleeves of their sweater were tugged down, allowing to show a little evidence from last night.

"Ne, Hattori, what's with that bandage on your and Kazuha-chan's wrists?" Shinichi asked, curiously, being the keen detective that he is.

"What happened to you guys?" Ran asked worriedly.

"Just a sprain. A little accident, you know. Hahaha" Kazuha answered, laughing nervously.

"Yeah, housework could cause some accidents sometimes." Heiji added, defensively.

"Well, don't forget to put hot compress on that to prevent it from swelling." Ran reminded, innocently.

"Housework huh?" Shinichi said, suspiciously as he raised an eyebrow and then snickered at his friends' blushing faces.

* * *

 **Omake 2:**

"Here's the new pair of handcuffs you requested, Hei-chan." Otaki-han said as he placed a fresh new chain of cold steel on top of Heiji's desk. The thing was still in a nicely wrapped package. All nice and new.

"I wonder what happened to the old ones they gave you, though. They were good as new. You barely even use them." The police officer said, causing Heiji to blush.

"The twins broke it." He lied, laughing nervously.

"Aren't your twins still infants? Those handcuffs are made of good material, Hei-chan." Otaki said, skeptically.

"Well, what can I say? Twins are a handful."

* * *

 **-Owari-**


End file.
